Popcorn Heaven :-)

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2005)

I didn't believe Michael Bay could come back after making Pearl Harbor (the worst disappointment of my movie watching career)... and god, was I wrong.
This movie is a perfect summer flick. It has action, a story that makes sense, high entertainment and... a babe ;-) More seriously, the story is amazing and the acting is pretty good.
Many reviewers say that The Island is actually two movies stuck together - one, an exploration of a pretty dim universe and the second, a totally run of the mill action flick. I must agree with that. The first half is a very well made exercise in imagination and set design. The second part suffers from terminal Michael Bay-ism - way too many car chases, way too many explosions, way too many "boooms, bangs and wowwwwwwws".
Contrary to many summer movies, The Island does NOT require a major suspension of disbelief: the story really makes sense. I'll try to see other movies written by the same team.
The acting is very good. The two principals deliver as well in action scenes than in funny scenes (there are a few :-) Sean Bean plays a variation of his typical bad-guy role but he excels in it. Djimon Hounsou (the other Gladiator :-) is good but he has his ups and lows... Steve Buscemi is, as usual, a genius.
The special effects are... too good? Micheal Bay seems to have mastered the art of milking too much money from producers - the car chases scenes are well made and are obviously expensive but they kinda distract from the story line. Personally, i would have removed a good half of them.
I didn,t notice any major plot holes, besides the fact that the main characters are pretty indestructible... I wouldn't take life insurance on them, it would be a bad bet...
There is a lot of product placement in this movie and, at one point, it gets laughable. Watch for a character to be using MSN Search in 2050... Please... Contrary to Minority Report, the cars of the future are not Japanese, there good ole' Cadillacs - I knew the US car industry would come back on top! ;-) Finally, I may buy the soundtrack... The background music is very effective.
In summary - an excellent popcorn movie, by a director who delivers the goods.